


our children, ourselves

by anna_kat



Series: Ward x Simmons Summer [15]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Eli Fitz, Emery Fitz, F/M, Grace Ward - Freeform, Hadley Ward, Original Character(s), Simon Ward, Ward x Simmons Summer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-24
Updated: 2014-10-24
Packaged: 2018-02-22 09:23:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2502734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anna_kat/pseuds/anna_kat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>The older their children get, the longer the rule list gets.</em>
</p><p>For the 'rules' theme.</p>
            </blockquote>





	our children, ourselves

**Author's Note:**

> From week fifteen of WardxSimmons Summer, for the _rules_ theme.

**Rule 16. No peanut butter and jelly in Mommy and Daddy’s bed.**

Jemma folds back the top of the comforter and pulls a Captain America action figure from between the sheets. Holding it up, she shakes her head. “Explain to me again how a thunderstorm equaled spending the day in our bed with  _all three_ of our children?”

Grant sticks his head out of the bathroom, toothbrush in his mouth. At the sight of her halfway through her change into sleepwear - she’d noticed a strange lump in the covers before she could pull on her pajama shorts - his eyes widen just a touch (she loves that that can still happen) and then he wiggles his eyebrows at her.

“Oh, stop that this instant.” She says, even if her temperature climbs a couple of notches. Pulling three picture books from the bed brings her back to her point. “Why couldn’t a movie marathon happen in the living room, hm?”

He’s back in the bathroom, and she can hear him turn the sink off and drop his toothbrush into the cup before making his way toward her. He hasn’t got a shirt on, and she takes a turn to shamelessly ogle him. He doesn’t flush the way she did, damn him. “Because it’s more fun here?” She narrows her eyes and he grins a little guiltily. “And because Hadley was a little afraid of the thunder and it’s easier for me to cuddle all three of them when there’s more space.”

Jemma tries to hide her appreciative smile as she flips the comforter all the way back to examine what’s beneath. Two more books, Grace’s hairbrush, a sock, a DVD case, a water bottle and- “Grant!”

He rubs the back of his neck. “Okay, next time we won’t have PB&J in the bed.”

-

**Rule 87. No swimming competitions in the basement.**

“What…. are you  _doing_?” Her siblings and cousins snap their heads to look in her direction, and Grace knows that for a moment they were all terrified that she was her mother.

As they should be, she thinks while she observes the basement.

“Tell me you lined it, at least.”

Simon nods slowly, lifting his goggles. “Yes. The outside is plates of that material Mr. Stark gave us at the beginning of the summer to mess around with and we lined it with some of Uncle Fitz’s old rubber prototype.”

“Which we asked permission to use.” Eli offers, floating on his back and making little splashes with his feet in Hadley’s direction.

“And did you tell him you were using it to make a  _pool_  in our  _basement_?” Grace asks, leaning her arms against the edge and trailing her fingers in the water.

Emery looks down, swirling her feet along the bottom of the structure. “Well… no.”

Grace just shakes her head. “I’d like to be here when they find out.”

-

**Rule 162. Any experiments that burst into flame must be extinguished immediately and inspected by an adult.**

Grant’s phone vibrates on the table for the third time in just shy of five minutes, and he finally snatches it up and excuses himself into the hall. “Hello?”

“Why didn’t you answer me the first two times?” Jemma asks impatiently, and Grant can hear clinking and a rhythmic  _thump-thump_ in the background. “I’ve been calling you.”

“Sorry, I was in a meeting. What’s going on?” The  _thump-thump_  continues, and Grant tries to remember what his family was planning on doing today. He comes up mostly blank, except that Simon was going over to Fitz and Skye’s to play video games with Eli and Emery. “What’s that sound?”

Jemma’s voice is distant for a moment, like she’s turned away. “Hadley, love, keep your feet still, please.” Her response to him is louder. “Oh, just your daughter thumping her feet against the cabinet.”

Grant winces just a bit. “My daughter? What did she do?”

He expects a bit of snark in her response, something about her picking up his habits or doing something she shouldn’t do. Instead, her words sound almost shy, a little nervous. “Well, I wanted to spend some time in the lab, and she wanted to come with me for a bit, which I said she could do.”

“She’s done that before.” Grant says slowly, trying to reach the end of the story before she tells it.

“Yes, indeed she has. She wanted to try some experiments today.” Jemma keeps letting her sentences linger, keeps giving him little chunks and then halting.

Grant narrows his eyes even though he can’t see her. “This is like pulling teeth, Jem. What happened?”

“Well, I didn’t realize that she was using some of Fitz’s gears and the like, and whatever she put together had a bit of a malfunction-”

“What kind of malfunction?”

“There were some flames present by the time-”

“ _Flames_?” Grant asks, managing not to yell. “Did she put them out?”

“Well, not right away-”

“Not right away? Why  _not_?”

Jemma’s nearly whispering. “She was trying to take notes.”

Grant gapes. In the background of Jemma’s call, Hadley’s voice suddenly pipes up. “The only difference between screwing around and science is writing it down!”

“No more Mythbusters.” Jemma intones quickly before she speaks to Grant again. “Look, she’s fine, she’s perfectly safe. Grace and I put it out and Hadley just got a little singed, but we still have some of that burn cream from awhile ago, so she’s fine. She’s already trying to get down and play. But she’s really okay, Grant, I promise.”

He pushes his hand through his hair and heaves a sigh. “You know, I think in this case, she’s  _your_ daughter.”

-

(The older their children get, the longer the rule list gets.)

(Eventually there are enough rules in the notepad that they think about publishing a book.)

(They don’t, but Skye makes them a webpage.)

(The amount of hits that webpage gets on a daily basis is almost obscene.)


End file.
